Valorant Beginner Guide – Part 2: Map Skills and Abilities

Our Valorant beginner’s guide goes into the next round. After we have dedicated the first part in detail to the Aiming, we now look at the next big part of the game: Map skills and abilities.

• Aim
• Map skills & abilities
• Game understanding

Map skills & abilities

If you want to get into the high-skill areas of Valorant, you need to know both the maps and how to use your skills. In the second part of our guide series, we’ll cover the basics of these factors, how to improve them, and why they’re important.

How do I improve my map skills?

Basically, there are two ways to happiness at this point. The most important part is practice. If you play a lot, you will quickly get a routine for the maps. Thereby you learn where you can use which abilities well, at which point opponents could stand and how the timings are.

In addition, the dry and theoretical approach to the map helps. The goal is to find certain positions on the map, also called Angles, where you have a significant advantage over your opponent. Of course, there are numerous tutorials on YouTube that go into depth for each map.

• READ MORE: Valorant Map Guide: Haven

Why is map knowledge so important?

If you know the maps well, you can quickly adjust your positions depending on the round and your opponents’ moves. Communication within the team is the key. If you give good calls and get good calls, you can quickly change the outcome of the match for the better. You can also set up crossfire situations through more accurate announcements, which can give you a not insignificant advantage.

In addition, an agent can become stronger and weaker depending on the map. Because of their abilities, certain agents offer unique ways to position themselves (for example, Omen Teleport). If you know the maps, you can take unique positions that an opponent won’t expect. This way, the element of surprise can always be on your side.

• READ MORE: Valorant Map Guide: Bind

The Skills

A good CS:GO player has a significant advantage due to his possibly already trained Aim. But of course, this is not all. In Valorant, the new variable of skills was added, which can have a great impact on the game. Of course, you could write a separate guide for each character. You can also take a look at our agent guides. You can also find numerous videos on YouTube.

• READ MORE: Valorant Agent Guide – Sova

The correct use of skills can greatly influence the outcome of the game. While some agents have aggressive abilities, such as Jett, agents like Sage have mostly support abilities that can largely benefit your team. Pay particular attention to your team composition. A balanced mix of offensive and defensive characters is important here.

As already mentioned in the context of the maps, unique abilities of certain agents can strongly influence the respective rounds. Those who learn an agent’s abilities should also be able to use them correctly in the context of each individual map. If you know the chokepoints of Haven and co., you can completely exclude certain positions with agents like Brimstone.

Valorant Beginner’s Guide

Overwhelmed with Valorant? No wonder… Without experience in similar games (such as CS:GO or Overwatch) the start in Valorant is difficult. But don’t worry, we are here to help you with our Valorant Beginner Guide.

Valorant is a special game. Many think that getting into the game is easy, but without shooter experience, you’ll quickly be on the ropes. Even CS:GO veterans can get into trouble… In Counter Strike, there are no flying knife-throwing things-people. But that’s why we are here.

This beginner’s guide is meant to help you get started in Valorant and introduce you to the world of Valorant. After that, the most important features should be clear to you, so that the fun in Valorant is not lost.

Valorant Beginner Guide: Basics

Let’s start with the meaning behind the game. In other words: What is Valorant anyway? Valorant is a first-person shooter in which two teams consisting of five players face off. The first team to win 13 rounds wins. Both teams have a different role – attacker and defender.

The goal of the attackers is to place a spike and protect it until detonation. This must happen on one of the three spots (A/B/C). In turn, the defenders must prevent the attackers from doing so.

Each match consists of two halves. After the first half (12 rounds), the two teams switch roles. The attackers become defenders, the defenders become attackers. Easy.

Agents

Before the start of a match, each player must choose an agent. Agents have unique skills, which in most cases also require a certain playstyle (offensive, defensive, support, etc.). Currently there are 16 agents in total, but new agents have already been leaked and should be added soon.

As a new player, you can initially choose between 5 free agents: Brimstone, Phoenix, Sova, Jett and Sage. To unlock more agents, you will have to sign contracts, which is mostly done via Daily Quests or earning experience points.

Valorant Beginner Guide: The best agent to start with

Phoenix is by far the easiest agent to start with in Valorant. His skills are not too complicated, can be combined well in any situation. But watch out with the flashbangs (aka your Q skill)! You’ll probably flashbang yourself and your mates quite often in the beginning, but practice makes perfect!

Valorant Beginner Guide: The best mode to start with

Stay away from Unrated mode for the beginning. This may sound strange, but especially the beginning of Valorant might be hard for you. Frustration will lead to quick quits, which in turn will get you involved in penalties and XP loss. That’s why you should start with Spike Rush first. An average game here lasts 8 minutes, while other modes can easily go over 50 minutes. In Spike Rush, you’ll be quickly released from suffering without having to take any penalties.

In addition, you don’t have to do any eco rounds in Spike Rush. This means that you’ll be able to try out your agents’ abilities, as well as the most varied weapons. Spike Rush is a great mode to learn the basics of Valorant. When you feel like you’re firmly in the saddle, you can try your luck in Unrated mode. After 20 matches in Unrated mode, you’ll gain access to Competitive mode, where you can earn ranks.

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